FISHMONGER Derek Downey had to get his skates on to slice up this whopper of a catch for his customers. He put this giant skate measuring 5ft by 5ft and weighing 150lbs on sale at his fish stall in London’s East End

By Linda Lewis

FISHMONGER Derek Downey had to get his skates on to slice up this whopper of a catch for his customers today.

He put this giant skate measuring 5ft by 5ft and weighing 150lbs on sale at his fish stall in London’s East End, freshly caught off the Scottish Isle of Mull.

He picked it up, or at least four helpers picked it up, from Billingsgate fish market in East London.

“I just had to have it, even though it was so big,” he admitted.

“I knew it would hardly fit on my stall and we had trouble getting it into the van.”

Derek needed four helpers just to hoist the giant skate out of his van and onto his stall at Bethnal Green’s Globe Town market in Roman Road.

At least he won’t be trawling for customers. Shoppers were queuing up to catch a glimpse of the monster before it was chopped up ready for sale.

Derek managed to cut 40 portions out of it, selling like hotcakes at �5 a time.

He added: “It wasn’t quite the feeding of the 5,000, but it was still a show-stopper.”

As for the chips, Derek left that to his customers.